A Day Out with Thomas!

On Sunday, Mike and I drove the boys to Spencer, N.C., to spend a "Day Out with Thomas" at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. What an awesome time we all had!

Not only did we get to ride a train pulled by Thomas the Tank Engine himself, the boys also played with tons of toy trains, ran through a maze made out of hay bales, saw real trains of all shapes and sizes, watched tons model trains going around on tracks, explored the automobile museum and looked at cars from all eras, sat inside a real fire truck and even played putt-putt. Whew!

The only bad part was that my camera battery died about halfway through out visit. I was so disappointed! I can't believe that I - of all people - did not bring a fully charged camera battery! Argh!

Anyway, I did take a couple of photos before the camera pooped out, and here they are!

It was pretty cold that morning. Mike and I didn't win parent of the year awards that day.
Both boys were cold but didn't complain one bit!

Mr. Chase has become quite the truck guru himself!

For some reason, Charlie was very excited about standing on one foot on the fire truck.

"Look, Mama! I'm standing on one foot on a fire truck!"

This was the gift shop. Charlie would have stayed here all day if we'd let him.
He loved looking at all of the cars, trucks and tractors!

Watching the trains go by was a big hit!

And, there's the star of our show, Thomas!

Aren't my boys cute?

I think this is a sweet photo...

Charlie & Chase earned their Jr. Engineer Certificate that day!

And, this was our conductor. Isn't he fun?

Making a Splash!

For weeks now, I've been promising the boys that we would play in the puddles as soon as we got a good rain storm. We've been waiting and waiting, but unfortunately, we only got a few stray showers here and there. Nothing that would produce any decent puddles.

That is until today.

What a rainstorm we had this morning! It was nuts! For awhile there, I thought we were going to have to build an arc! But, it ended up being the perfect amount of rain for us because we were left with huge puddles on the golf course. Yippee!

And, if you recall this Puddle Jumper blog post back in May, then you probably remember how much fun Charlie and I had splashing away that day, but poor Chase was napping and missed the whole thing. Well, he finally got his chance today!

Here are pictures from our splish, splash afternoon...

Chase had so much fun!

Isn't he so big now?

What a smile!

Brotherly love...

Follow the leader!

"What are you looking at?"

Lots of smiles!

Love this picture!

There's Chase with "the look" again!

Love this photo, too!

And this one!

And this one!

Aren't they sweet?

Ok, so I LOVE this photo!

And this one, too!

I love the big belly and the serious face.

"See ya later, alligator! We had fun!"

You know me. I love pictures from behind. 

"Bye!"

Movie Under the Stars Block Party!

On Saturday, our cul-de-sac hosted the second annual Movie Under the Stars Block party for over 100 friends and neighbors. I had such a great time planning this event. Theme parties are so much fun!

I drafted three neighbors to help me plan and host this crazy shindig. I even convinced my Dad and Colleen to drive 5+ hours from Tennessee to help watch the boys while I ran around, coordinating everything. What great friends and family I have, eh?

We went all out for this party. We decorated the cul-de-sac movie-themed plates, napkins and decor. We had tons of balloons and blasted music to make the atmosphere even more festive. We coordinated several games for kids to play - musical chairs (actually, we used beach towels), limbo, egg races and outdoor twister. (Yes, we spray painted five twister boards on my front yard. Thanks to Dad for designing the template!) We even provided large stars with lots of things to decorate them with so the kids could make their own Hollywood star for our Skybrook Walk of Fame! (And thanks to Colleen for running the craft table!)

After a couple of hours of merriment, we all headed to the back yard to watch "A Night at the Museum" on a large, inflatable movie screen. Such fun! There is nothing better than watching a movie under the stars. Nothing!

Charlie and Chase had an absolute blast at the party. They were finally allowed to ride their big wheels on the street (which was closed to cars), so they got a big kick out of that. They missed the movie, though. That's what happens when your bedtime is 7p! (Oh, and thanks to Oma for coming over and helping to put the boys down!)

I love planning parties. Maybe I should start my own business because I seem to have a knack for it! Then again, I think I like planning my OWN parties - not someone else's. (I would like using someone else's money, though!)

Here are a couple of photos from Saturday's festivities.

It's all about the details. We stuffed treat bags with popcorn and added  sticker that said,
"Thanks for popping by! Hope you enjoy the movie!" Super cute!

Big wheel riding in the street, like an outlaw!

Chase loved decorating his star. Charlie was too busy riding his big wheel.

See what I mean?

Remember the details? I made popcorn cupcakes. Adorable!

Off the bike for a split second. Just checking everything out...

...and then right back on the bike.

Grandma and Chase!

The craft table...

Cute plates, eh?

Our very own walk of fame!

How low can you go?

Outdoor Twister! What a cool idea!

Thanks for the help, Dad!

Decorations!

I would have taken a photo of the big movie screen, but it was too dark by the time it was up and running. Anyway, I think everyone had a great time. And now, on to the next event!